An IT director who spent a night in police custody and had his home raided by police after making a blog post has revealed harrowing details of his ordeal.
Speaking to GB News, Samuel Collingwood Smith was speaking after winning a £34,000 compensation package from Hertfordshire Constabulary.
The 47-year-old was taken into custody at Hatfield police station, where he remained overnight after the March 2025 incident.
In a court order, the force admitted it had unlawfully arrested and detained Mr Smith, acknowledged he committed no criminal offence, and accepted officers trespassed on his property.
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His arrest record will be removed from the Police National Computer, replaced with a marker indicating he faced false allegations.
Speaking about launching action against Hertfordshire Police, Mr Smith said: “I think it was necessary. It's really concerning that we have threats to free speech in this country.”
Detailing the night he was arrested by police, the IT director said 12 officers had descended on his home.
Reflecting humorously on the huge presence, Mr Smith told GB News: “If you'd been burgled or murdered or subject to some horrible assault, your problem was the whole of Hatfield nick was down my house.”
Twelve officers descended on Samuel Smith's property, conducted a search and held him in detention | HERTFORDSHIRE POLICE“They searched my home, seized my devices over this apparently very serious blog post.
“So they took me off to Hatfield Police Station, and then midway they arrested me again in the van.”
Mr Smith said he was arrested again over “stolen post which turned out to be some undelivered Conservative Party leaflets”.
“Bearing in mind, this took place at a quarter to midnight. It was completely bizarre," he said.
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Samuel Collingwood Smith revealed details of his arrest to GB News
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Even still, Mr Smith insisted he was “very polite to the police and cooperative".
“I told them all the passwords and they found nothing illegal,” he added.
“A couple of days later, um, I started the process to sue them because I'm legally qualified.
“So I sent a letter of claim and by the end of the week, they kind of all panicked, dropped the case and gave me all my stuff back.”
Mr Smith operates a blog under the pseudonym Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General: a name borrowed from a notorious 17th-century figure who persecuted women on accusations of witchcraft.
The article that prompted his arrest concerned a woman who had been falsely accused of being a paedophile.
In the piece, Mr Smith described two men as extremists and a drug user, following their publication of false information about the woman in question.
The two individuals subsequently reported the blog post to the police, triggering the chain of events that led to the unlawful arrest.
In a statement, Hertfordshire Constabulary said the force had now "settled Mr Smith's civil claim".
It continued: "The force apologises to Mr Smith for the incidents which were subject to the civil claim.
"The constabulary will review the relevant facts and issues in order to identify learning with a view to any improvement which can be made to training and service delivery."
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